Any summer resident who grows grapes knows how the wasp crop can be harmed. Not only do birds want to eat during the ripening of fruits, various insects or even flies, wasps and bees become an even bigger problem, since they destroy a significant part of the fruits. You can get rid of them in different ways, so if you want to keep your crop, you should understand the stages of the defeat of grapes and methods of preventing such undesirable consequences.

Stages of wasp grape damage

Insects pay much less attention to acidic grape varieties than to sweet dessert grapes, so as soon as the plant reaches the stage of technical maturity, whole swarms of striped pests appear next to it.

Looking at your crop, you can always determine how long wasps have been eating them:

1. At the first stage, only point damage to the berries is noticeable on the brush.
2. After 2-3 weeks, already 1/3 of the bunch becomes covered with dry or half-eaten berries.
3. A month later, more wasps appear near the planting, and the brushes hanging from the vine can lose more than half of the berries.

If appropriate measures are not taken in time, then the half-eaten fruits will attract more and more insects, which is why ultimately you can lose 80–90% of the total crop, especially if there is a hornet’s nest near the vineyard.

Did you know? An annoyed bee or wasp is more likely to attack a person who is allergic to its poison. The reason for this phenomenon is still not known, but in two of three cases it will happen just like that.

How to save grapes from wasps

If there is a hornet's nest near the grape, then first of all it is necessary to get rid of it and, perhaps, the vine bushes will not be affected by insects. However, if there are still a lot of them, and the habitat of striped pests has not been found, then you will have to use other ways to combat them. Conventionally, all of them can be divided into two main groups: mechanical and chemical, although some winegrowers also single out the third group - folk ones, involving the use of many years of experience of previous generations. Let's consider each of them.

Mechanically

The mechanical way to combat wasps is based on the use of improvised tools in the construction of traps. Despite the simplicity of many of them, in terms of efficiency, they show quite good results, therefore, we suggest paying attention to the following mechanical methods for eliminating the wasp problem in vineyards.

Traps

If the hornet’s nest is not found, or you are simply afraid to approach it, then several simple traps can be set up in the vineyard. All you need to create them is a plastic bottle, a bait in the form of wine, beer or a small amount of juice, as well as a special substance that attracts wasps (attractant).

Cut off the neck of the bottle and insert into another part of the container, after turning the top part with the hole down. Pour the prepared sweet liquid into the bottom of the bottle, add the selected attractant and fix it on the branches of the grape bush. Once inside, the insect will no longer be able to get out and, ultimately, die inside the bottle.

Nets and bags

The use of nets and bags is especially effective when growing sweet grapes (for example, Kishmish), which most often suffer from attacks of striped pests. In this case, each bunch of grapes needs to be placed in synthetic bags, with cells no more than 1-2 mm.

You can buy them ready-made (they resemble nets for onions or garlic) or make them yourself using bandages, gauze or old nylon tights. You can fix them on your hands with an elastic band or clothespin, but the main thing is that there should be no open areas at the base of the bunch.

Important! The bag made must not touch the lower grapes.

• This way of protecting vineyards has several advantages at once:
• wasps cannot get inside the pouch;
• the berries will not rot; after all, enough air enters the cells through the cells;
• once used bag can be used in the future, as most materials have high wear resistance;
• synthetic products do not absorb water, which means you can not worry about moisture stagnation inside the bag.

Protective nets for grapes are mounted on the bush according to the same principle, especially since most of them are sold ready-made, and you just need to choose the right size for the product.

Scare

Scaring away wasps is another proven way to push them away from vineyards. Compared with the previous options, it will require a regular repetition of actions, but with sufficient diligence, you can still achieve the desired result.

The most popular method in this case is fumigation of grapes with smoke from a fire, but for a long-term effect it is better to use liquid smoke used for smoking food. More on this in the section of the same name later.

Another short-term way to scare away wasps is to use water, which temporarily limits the ability of insects to fly. The liquid is collected in the spray gun, after which it remains only to process the plantings. When choosing a tool, pay attention to the size of the nozzle: it is desirable that the water is scattered by medium or small drops.

Planting insects next to bushes of green manure plants: mint, lemon balm, basil, bitter wormwood or different types of geraniums will help to drive insects away from vineyards for a long time. Any of the listed herbs releases essential oils into the air, which wasps do not like very much.

For a person, these substances are absolutely safe, and peppermint or lemon balm teas are even useful. The combined use of all these methods of scaring striped insects will increase the chances of success in this matter.

Important! To protect grapes from wasps, you can also use special ultrasonic devices produced by a wide variety of manufacturing companies. However, do not forget that ultrasound is extremely unpleasant for pets and beneficial insects.

Chemicals

Among the chemicals that can protect grapes from wasps and other insects, it is worth highlighting insecticides (for example, Iskra), boric acid, and sharply smelling combustible substances: kerosene or gasoline.

Boric acid

You can buy this product at any pharmacy where it is supplied as a white crystalline powder. Getting into the gastrointestinal tract of an insect, the chemical mixture causes muscle paralysis, and later wasp death, although for this the presence of boric acid should not be noticeable for the taste of the bait itself.

In the role of the latter, you can use sweet juice or plain sweetened water, the main thing is that at least 1 tbsp. l pre-diluted boric acid (10 g of the substance is dissolved in 1 liter of cold water).

Insecticides

When choosing special chemicals for wasp control, you should pay attention to varieties without a pungent odor, otherwise a persistent aroma may not attract, but rather, frighten off striped pests.

Such suitable drugs include compounds "Alatar", "Delta Zone" and "Troapsil", the main purpose of which is not to scare away, but to kill pests. Using them in accordance with the instructions, you will get rid of insects for a long time, because some insecticides retain their effect throughout the season.

It is worthwhile to prepare the working solution immediately before its use, which will guarantee its high efficiency after processing. Most of the described preparations involve contact-intestinal action of the pest on the body, that is, from the moment of consumption of the processed grapes to the death of the insect itself, usually no more than 5-8 hours pass.

Protecting yourself from contact with chemicals will help with standard protective measures: the use of gloves, glasses and a respirator that protect the skin, eyes and respiratory tract from the chemical used.

Important! All of these preparations are dangerous for beneficial insects, so when breeding in the area of ​​bees, you will have to find other means to combat wasps, especially during the flowering period of cultivated crops.

Flammable substances

Given the toxicity of kerosene and gasoline, they can only be used if the appearance of wasps on the grapes is due to the close location of their home.

In this case, the plan to save the bushes will consist of the following steps:

1. Spray gun filling with selected composition.
2. Spraying the hive, but only so that the bulk of the kerosene or gasoline falls into the area around the inlet: in this way, the vapor of the substance penetrates the insect's dwelling faster.
3. Repeat the procedure if the wasps did not leave their nest after the first treatment. It is better to watch their activity from a safe distance to avoid possible bites.
4. Destruction of the nest. As soon as the hive is empty, it needs to be removed and burned.

Despite the fact that the use of the described method does not guarantee the absence of problems in the future, in the near future the problem of pests of grapes will be solved. If you are lucky, the new aspen family will build a new nest on another site, away from your plantations.

Folk remedies

Despite the limited duration, alternative methods of controlling striped pests are very popular among winegrowers, because in comparison with chemical preparations they do not have any negative effect on the clusters themselves, which in the future will be used for food.

In this case, it is better to spray the grape brushes with a soda or vinegar solution, although liquid smoke can also be used. Consider each of these options.

Soda

This is one of the safest means, and not only in the fight against wasps, but also with many diseases of grapes (for example, stem rot or mildew). Soda is completely safe both for the plant itself and for humans, and the only drawback is the need for regular repetition of treatments.

To scare away wasps, you need to spray the clusters with a solution of 1 teaspoon of soda and 1 cup of clean water, preparing as much liquid mixture as you need to process the entire vineyard. If it rains soon after spraying, then all actions will have to be repeated. On average, for stable protection of bushes from wasps, you will have to use a soda solution at least 2-3 times a week.

Vinegar

Along with soda, apple or regular table vinegar is often used to fight wasps on the site, a bottle of which must first be diluted in five liters of clean water. As a result of mixing, a slightly acidic solution is obtained, the smell of which is not pleasant to insects.

Like soda, vinegar is not able to provide a lasting effect, so the treatment will have to be done regularly, especially after precipitation. This fact is the main reason for the frequent rejection of this method of combating wasps.

Did you know? Vinegar has many beneficial properties for the human body. It promotes the burning of excess fat, prevents the increase in blood sugar and even relieves physical fatigue, returning the muscles to their proper shape due to the removal of lactic acid from the body (useful after training or hard physical work).

Liquid smoke

An excellent solution to the problem of wasps for those farms in whose territory there are smokehouses. The liquid smoke used in them has a stable and fairly sharp aroma that repels many insects, in particular flying ones. To rid the plants of wasps, the substance is shed directly into the ground under the grapes, repeating the performed action with a regularity of 1 time in 2 weeks.

True, you need to be prepared for its unpleasant odor, which remains for a long time. If the smell of smoke disappears earlier, then re-processing will have to be done more often, which will help to save the maximum amount of yield.

Varieties that do not eat wasps

Wasps are not intelligent creatures, therefore they prefer only sweet and tasty grapes.

They bypass the less sweet varieties and variants with a thick skin of berries, therefore, most likely, you will not encounter a similar problem when growing the following grape varieties:

1. Maritsa.
2. Mascot.
3. The gospel.
4. Cardinal of Moldova.
5. Dion.
6. Adams.
7. Anniversary of the Kherson summer resident.
8. New gift Zaporozhye.

Each of them has its positive aspects, among which are good taste characteristics, and the fact that plants do not need to be sprayed from pests only adds them the advantages of growing. At the same time, such popular varietal varieties as Friendship or Victoria suffer from pests much more, so when growing them you need to be prepared for frequent encounters with wasps.

In most cases, when growing grapes, they really have to be protected from wasps, but in reality this is not as difficult a task as it might seem at first glance. Using one or several of the above methods of combating these winged pests, you protect your plantings, and with a minimum of effort.